The only matzo ball soup recipe you’ll ever need, each bowl is brimming with deep chicken flavor and light, fluffy matzo balls.
I am so excited to share my Aunt Patsy’s famous Matzo Ball Soup recipe! While every Passover my family gets together for an enjoyable seder, I can’t say we aren’t distracted by the thoughts of dinner. What can I say, we’re a family that loves food!
Matzo ball soup…the pièce de résistance! Light, fluffy matzo balls floating in rich, velvety, almost silky chicken stock. There’s a reason they call it Jewish penicillin – this soup cures all, and doesn’t have to be eaten just at Passover.
Curious to try more of my family’s Passover recipes? Give my Ema’s Beef Brisket a try, alongside Charoset (Apple and Walnut Salad) and Za’atar Roasted Carrots and Green Beans.
Ingredients
- Chicken stock: I like to make homemade, its super easy and you can make it in bulk and store it for later. But store bought chicken stock will also work nicely!
- Matzo ball mix: My go to is Manischewitz, but your local grocery store might carry a different brand.
- Eggs: Used as a binder for the matzo balls.
- Chicken fat: Also known as schmaltz, it’s a common ingredient in Jewish cooking and adds rich, delicious flavor. You could also just use oil if you can’t find any rendered chicken fat.
How To Make Matzo Ball Soup
Step 1. Make your chicken stock by adding your cut carrots, celery, and whole chicken to a large stock pot and cover with water.
Step 2. Next add the cut onion and fresh garlic.
Step 3. Then add the fresh parsley and thyme sprigs to the pot.
Step 4. Pour in your chicken base next, and finish with some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about an hour.
Step 5. Refrigerate, then skim off the fat. Reheat and strain into another large pot so you’re left with just the broth. You can keep the chicken to add back into the soup or shred it to use in other dishes.
Step 6. To make the matzo balls, crack your eggs into a medium sized bowl and whisk them together.
Step 7. Add the oil or schmaltz
Step 8. Then the matzo ball mix.
Step 9. Mix together until ingredients combine to make a dough.
Step 10. Once dough is formed, use a tablespoon and your hands to form into balls.
Step 11. Add the balls one by one to the hot pot, leaving plenty of room for the balls to expand.
Step 12. Let cook until the matzo balls have doubled in size.
Ladle some hot chicken broth into your bowls, and add a couple matzo balls to each. Serve garnished with chives or parsley, maybe adding some shredded chicken, and enjoy your Matzo Ball Soup!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can find it at most butcher shops or at your grocery store’s butcher counter. Alternatively, you can make it yourself by roasting chicken skin in the oven until crispy and saving the reserved fat (schmaltz).
In the Passover meal, matzo (sometimes spelled matzoh, or matza) represents the unleavened bread that th Jewish people ate while fleeing Egypt.
Keeping the matzo balls and chicken stock separate, store them in the fridge in air-tight containers for up to 4 days. Simply reheat in the microwave when ready to eat it again.
More Family Recipes
- Shabbat Challah Bread
- Classic Hummus with Toasted Pine Nuts
- Garlicky Greens with Caramelized Onions
- Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves
Eat It, Like It, Share It!
Did you try this soup? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your meal.
Whether you’re celebrating Passover or simply can’t resist a comforting bowl of matzo ball soup, I urge you to try my family recipe. Let me know how it goes in a comment below!
Your spoon is waiting.
Classic Matzo Ball Soup (Jewish penicillin)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place all of the chicken stock ingredients (whole chicken through thyme) in a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil the reduce heat to a simmer.
- Remove lid and let the stock simmer on low until the chicken falls off the bones – about one hour.
- Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly with more salt, pepper or herbs to taste.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate stock overnight so that you can easily scape off the fat from the chilled soup in the morning. In the morning, scrape off fat layer from the top while soup is still cold.
- Reheat stock over medium heat until warmed through. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- To strain, place a large mesh colander over another large stockpot and strain stock.
- Prepare according to package instructions, usually mixing the matzo ball mix, eggs, and oil into a dough.
- Take about a tablespoons worth of dough and roll into a ball. The key to fluffy, perfect balls is to cook them in a wide, deep soup pan so that the balls have space to expand. It doesn't need to be as deep as it needs to be wide.
- Ladle hot chicken broth into a bowl and add one or two matzo balls. Sprinkle with chives to serve. If you kept the chicken meat from making the stock, you can add that to the soup as well.
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